Zandra Moore, CEO of Leeds-based analytical software company, Panintelligence, tells us about the power of networking in the tech sector and its growing links with Israel business.
Hi Zandra, tell us about Panintelligence!
We are a software company that provides data analytics for non-techies, turning average citizens into data scientists! Our customers are software businesses who want to improve the in-app data insights for their customers. Our software provides data visualisation, formatted reporting, and predictive analytics tools which can be embedded and white-labelled into software vendors apps. This allows users to have information all in one place, providing more useful insights to make easy predictions about their business growth and inform decision making. We started in 2014, and now have an amazing team of 42 people based in our Leeds head office.
Has COVID changed the way the team at Panintelligence works?
I spent most of my career on the commercial side of business before becoming a CEO, so my natural gravitation is towards meeting people face-to-face and networking. I’m delighted to see an office full of people again, and we encourage people to come in three days a week without making it a mandatory rule. The energy, innovation, and motivation from the team certainly benefits from that.
It sometimes feels like there’s a lag on society with how people perform in the workplace.
We now have a generation of people entering the workforce who don’t have the experience of hands-on learning which the rest of us have benefitted from. I think it will still take a few years to see this swing back to the way things were.
You also run your own networks, Lean In Leeds and No Code Lab. What’s the story behind these?
Lean In Leeds is a women’s network which now has 900 members. A lot of women in business need a peer group for support, with people they can trust to lean on and help them take the ten steps forward faster than if they tried on their own. The network is kept open for men to also join so all can contribute to the conversation about female equity in business.
The No Code Lab meanwhile helps non- techie people build stuff! The network aims to inspire people to get into the tech community and learn first-hand about the latest coding platforms. You don’t have to be able to write code or even be excited at writing code to get involved, and the network events give people the opportunity to get hands on experience in such a fast-developing business world.
Being together in the same room as a group is a core value for humanity and gives people the confidence to share ideas and make informed choices in work and in life.
You recently attended a UKIB meeting. Are you hoping to develop relationships with Israeli companies?
In 2019 we secured £4.5 million in funding to help start our global business growth, and now have strategic partners in Israel to build our customer base along with the US, Europe, and Australia. Joining the UKIB breakfast meetings has been great in getting on board such a hardwired network in the heart of Leeds, and I’m looking forward to planning a trip to Israel soon with a UKIB trade mission which will support this new relationship even further. From a more social side, it’s also been fantastic to catch up with people who I last met years ago who still greet me like it was yesterday!
It sounds like you have good relationships in the community!
People can often create their own walls and barriers when interacting with others, but I’ve never felt at any time that there’s a door within the Jewish community I cannot walk through because everyone is incredibly open and welcoming.
What I also admire is the understood value of family legacy, which is something important that we’re at risk of losing out on. Young people used to rely on the advice of their elders when graduating or stepping into the world of work, using lessons already taught by those who travelled the same journey.
Society in general has lost a lot of community spirit over time that’s been eroded by the remoteness of working life and of families. It’s why getting together and lending the helping hand for our younger generations is more important than ever.
Panintelligence.com